I admit it...I lost sight of why I bought my Catrike 700 in the first place. I intended for it to be light and fast, an occasional break from my overloaded Catrike Expedition. A stock 700 specs out at 33 pounds. With a couple of component changes it came closer to 32 pounds (even with the longer boom) when I took delivery of it back in June of 2010 from Bent Up Cycles. Over time I managed to get it up to 42.62 pounds including a tool kit with extra parts, first aid and spare tubes. I decided to have some fun and strip it down to the bear necessities...for me at least.
This what I took off the 700:
-The rack that I recently put on.
-Over sized tool kit in the orange bag.
-Over sized first aid kit in the green bag.
-Four cell lithium battery for the front light.
-Two of 4 spare tubes (two for each tire size).
-One of two accessory stems mounted on the steering.
-A few odds and ends.
This is what I ended up putting back on:
-Small tool kit in the black bag.
-Small first aid in the gray bag.
-Two cell lithium battery for the front light. The rear light still has the four cell battery so I can run it on high.
-Light weight mirror mounts.
So what have I gained you ask. The 700 now hits the scale at 35.97 pounds. This includes the frame bags, one accessory bar with a Cateye computer, flag, lights and batteries. With the scaled down tool kit, first aid and tubes added on the total comes out to 38.32 pounds, a 4. 3 pound reduction in weight. Will it allow me to go faster? Yeah in my own head. At least it stopped me from getting carried away with stuff. There is also less stuff to rattle around and fall off. The 700 is light, fast and feels every bump on the road. the less stuff on the trike the less to bounce off. Things have fallen off on some of the fast downhills. I also have room now for a few goodies to be stuffed into the frame bags.
When necessary the rear rack is now set up so it can easily be put back on in under 10 minutes.
